The little treasures: Writes WAYNE NELSON of Forest Lake: My father took this picture around 1943 while stationed in Castelvetrano, Sicily, with the Army Air Force. As you can see, thats President Roosevelt in the front seat of the Jeep and Gen. Eisenhower sitting in the back seat. I believe the driver to be a Col. Stiles, as my father noted on the back. Behind Eisenhower, in the background to the left, is Gen. Henry Hap Arnold.
In 2001, I had the fortunate opportunity to correspond, via emails, with a soldier who was also there that exact day and moment. His name was Ralph Thomas; he lived in Canton, Ohio. In 1943, he was assigned as the personal photographer to Gen. Mark Clark (who was shown in another of my fathers pictures of that day). He told me that Gen. Clark was a very difficult person to satisfy. His previous three photographers lasted no longer than six weeks each! As it turned out, Ralph lasted 13 months, and he left on good terms.
I was hoping to find out, when I first contacted Ralph Thomas, that he might have known my father. I first saw some of Ralphs pictures, posted in a magazine, which were almost the same ones that my father took, so I knew that they were both there at that same time. My father passed away in 1977, and I didnt know of these pictures until after his passing, so Id never heard the story behind them.
Ralph told me that many soldiers there that day had their own personal cameras taking pictures, so he really didnt know who my father was. I would guess that they had to have looked at each other that day, maybe even yielded to each other for their pictures. Ralph told me that when they took (carried) President Roosevelt off the plane to seat him in the Jeep, there were to be no pictures taken of that moment. Also, they were only to take pictures of Gen. Eisenhower on the Stars side.

Writes Christy of Menomonie, Wis.: “We had a couple of gerbils, ages ago.

“Once, one of the gerbils escaped in our apartment — and as hubby grabbed for it behind the couch, its tail came off in his hands. He felt really bad and was concerned about the damage he might have done to our poor pet, so he confided in a co-worker. He explained he was too embarrassed to call a veterinarian himself, so this guy said he’d call a friend of his who was a vet.

Al B of Hartland: “In ‘The Big Yellow Taxi,’ Joni Mitchell sang: ‘Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got, till it’s gone, they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.’ I think of that song when attending funerals. I should have visited the deceased more. Been nicer.

“The meal after the funeral helps. When I was a boy, I hoped it would be ‘funeral potatoes’ — scalloped potatoes and ham. It’s oddly comforting to listen to a friend say, while ingesting a fourth helping of funeral potatoes: ‘I like funerals. There is one less person to judge me.’ ”

Not exactly what she had in mind

Anne Nonny Mouse: “At the beauty shop I go to, we were discussing scary movies, and ‘The Exorcist’ came up.

“As she was cutting away on someone’s hair, one of the beauticians said: ‘When I was a young teen, I was forbidden to see “The Exorcist,” but I snuck out to see it anyway, with a bunch of friends. When the movie was over and we got outside, it was storming and I was scared out of my wits. When I got home, my parents had already gone to bed and we had lost electricity. I was too freaked out to sleep, so I got out a candle and sat huddled around it, shaking with fear, in the dark.’

“The fact that she was avoiding a really big ‘I told you so’ was probably of little comfort.”

Vanity, thy name is…

Red’s Offspring, north of St. Paul: “The Mercedes had a personalized plate that sounded like the strip club in ‘The Sopranos’: ‘BDABING.’ ”

The highfalutin displeasures (resp’l)

The most recent Monday’s Bulletin Board opened with a note from California Girl of Maplewood: “While I’m sure the manufacturer thought it was a good idea to create headlights that would enable drivers to be seen and to see more clearly, I cannot tell you how many times I have almost gotten into accidents because I have been blinded by these halogen headlights!

“I would put it right up there with having your picture taken with a flashbulb a few times in a row and be expected to walk in a straight line without knocking into anything.

“So many times when an SUV is waiting to make their turn, I have to cover their lights with one hand so I can see where to turn into a lane without crashing into a curb or divider. I literally can’t see to make that left turn!

“What were they thinking? Does anyone else have this problem? [Bulletin Board ahems: Ahem!]

“I am tempted to drive at night with my sunglasses on!”

WestCider: “I have wondered whether anyone else has a problem with halogen headlights. California Girl is definitely not alone. I have the same experience with those lights. I move to another lane if the car behind me has halogen lights. They burn my eyes.”

Eastside Peanut: “Yes, they are bright.

“I’ve also seen way too many cars at twilight with NO lights on. Could their ‘automatic on’ headlight switch be in the ‘automatic off’ position?”

” ‘Tainted: All people out there who have decided that fog lamps were invented to enhance the looks of your vehicle. This applies especially to those who have high-profile vehicles. These lamps were designed to help you stay on the road when fog limits your visibility.

” ‘Apparently many think that they look so cool that they turn them on when there is no fog. On clear nights, they tend more to be hazards to oncoming vehicles, with the added light shining in. Do the right thing and run your fog lamps on foggy nights only — help keep drivers of oncoming cars from being blinded!’ ”

Spoonstado: “In addition to the headlights, I have noticed the LED brake lights. After sitting behind a car with them at a light, I saw the light as a camera flash for quite some time after. Not sure how that can be good for us.”

Games people play

Leo JEOSP: “I was told a story by my sweetheart last night. It was about a co-worker’s father.

“The father attended Notre Dame after WWII. He lived in the dormitories. This was the fall of 1945, and many servicemen were taking advantage of the G.I. Bill. Many of the ex-G.I.’s were trained to repair any number of motor vehicles — including the Jeep, of course.

“One particular student living in the dorm was from a very wealthy family. He was arrogant and difficult to deal with.

“The government was selling Jeeps at bargain-basement prices in the autumn of 1945. Mr. Arrogant procured a new Jeep and was very proud of it.

“He took a weekend visit back home but left his Jeep on campus. A group of his fellow students, who were experts in the maintenance of said vehicle, disassembled the Jeep and reassembled it in the dorm room of Mr. Arrogant!”

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